Computer programming language statement building and information tool

ABSTRACT

An intelligent real time tool to assist a computer programmer during the writing and/or maintenance of a computer program. The tool generates assist windows that contain program related information that the programmer can use to construct a programming language statement and/or to obtain real time information about a programming language statement. An assist window can be automatically displayed as determined by the tool itself, and/or manually displayed on demand in response to a user input command. An assist window displays two general categories of information including but not limited to selection menu information based on a partial compilation of all programming language statements, and informational displays based on a partial compilation and a reverse parse of an immediate programming language statement. The statement generating tool assist windows are non-intrusive to programmer input and can be ignored by the programmer by merely continuing to type an immediate programming language statement without interacting with the assist windows that are proximate the programming language statement being constructed by the programmer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This invention is a continuation of related U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/970,409, filed Oct. 3, 2001, (MS FT-4160) which is continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/391,057, filed Sep. 7, 1999,issued Oct. 30, 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,323 (MSFT-4159) which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/863,822, filed May27, 1997, issued Feb. 15, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,233 (MSFT-4158). Thefield of the invention and its entirety of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

This invention relates to the field of computer programming tools and inparticular to an intelligent real time tool to assist a computerprogrammer during the writing, evaluation, and/or maintenance of acomputer program.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Problem

Two related problems exist in the field of computer programming thatinclude, but are not limited to, generating a computer program quicklyand accurately on a first attempt, and maintaining a computer programwith a minimal amount of effort once a computer program exists. The tworelated problems exist due to many factors that include, but are notlimited to, the increasing complexity of computer programs generally,the architectural modularity of computer programs, and the increasingdistribution of programmers that are contributing to a common programacross campuses, countries, and even continents. Each of these factorsplaces a premium on the efficiency of a programmer whose role is todevelop and/or maintain a computer program.

It is a problem for a computer programmer to generate a computer programin a high level programming language quickly and accurately on a firstattempt. To generate a large and/or complex computer program, theprogrammer must be able to enter computer programming languagestatements quickly and accurately in a traditionally manual process thatis also referred to as “writing code” or “coding”. The process ofentering computer programming language statements is typically done onekeystroke and one statement at a time by way of a typewriter stylekeyboard input system that commonly accompanies most computing systems.

As a computer program evolves during the coding process, accuracybecomes a particular problem due in part to the arcane syntax ofprogramming languages in addition to the often cryptic grammar and/orspelling that is characteristic of programmer-declared object entitiesin a computer program, such as variable names, parameter names,structure names, structure members, object names, object property types,and the like. Not only must references to a declared entity be spelledcorrectly, the declared entity must also be used in the correct contextand syntax if the resulting computer program is expected to compilewithout errors and/or execute as intended.

Examples of commercially available and widely used programming languagesinclude, but are not limited to, object oriented programming languagessuch Visual Basic or C++. Object oriented programming languages, as withmost traditionally used high level programming languages, contain typesof programming language statements that can be grouped into two basiccategories. The basic categories include, but are not limited to,operator embedded statements and procedure calls. For example purposesonly, object oriented programming language examples are the focus of theremaining discussion.

An operator embedded statement includes at least one defined objectentity that is used with varying combinations of unary, binary, and/orassignment operators. An object entity is a basic building block of anobject oriented programming language statement and typically includes ahierarchical object name and member name format such as the following:

-   -   <object name> <operator> <member name>        where <object name> and <member name> are discrete hierarchical        segments of an object oriented programming language structure.        An <operator> is a character defined by the programming language        syntax that in the present example separates, delineates and/or        indicates a syntactic relationship, between an object and a        member of the object. Common examples of these delimiting type        operator characters include the dot “.” and the pointer u->”        characters, in addition to the parenthesis “( )” and the square        brackets “[]”.

There are typically multiple objects defined in an object orientedcomputer program, any one of which can be used for the <object name>segment of a programming language statement. For any given objectidentified by <object name>, there can be multiple members and/or levelsof members that can be validly used for the <member name> segment of aprogramming language statement. A named member is often referred to as aproperty or method. A valid combination of <object name> and <membername> together define an object entity that may be of any typeincluding, but not limited to, a variable of some data type, a symbolicconstant of some data type, or an array or structure or union, or anyportion thereof.

Sets of <object name> and <member name> object entities can be separatedby or used in conjunction with operators that can include, but are notlimited to, logical, bitwise logical, relational, arithmetic, orcharacter manipulation operators, from the well known sets of unary,binary, and assignment operators that are common among programminglanguages. Unary, binary, and assignment operators can include the aboveidentified delimiter operators in addition to any one or combination ofthe set of characters {=−+ˆ!:<>/}. One example of object entities usedin an expression is the following simple assignment statement:

-   -   <object name> <member name>=<value>        where <value> is some object entity or constant having a data        type that is compatible with the object entity defined by        <object name> and <member name>. Another example of object        entities used in an expression can include:    -   <object entity 1>=<object entity 2>+<object entity 3>

However, with any of the above exemplary constructions of programminglanguage statements, in addition to the variety of constructions notshown herein, at least one object entity must be constructed somewherewithin the programming language statement. It is the construction ofeven one object entity that presents the opportunity for typographicalerrors, incorrect syntax, and other human programmer introducedproblems.

Another fundamental category of programming language statement is theprocedure call, also referred to as a function call. A procedure callcan, but is not required to, include at least one argument in anargument list. The terms argument and argument list are often used assynonyms with and/or mixed and matched with the terms parameter andparameter list. For purposes of this discussion the terms argument andargument list are used. An argument is another type of object entity ina programming language. The basic format of a procedure call typicallyincludes a procedure name followed by a comma-separated argument listwithin parentheses as follows:

-   -   <procedure name>(<argument 1>, . . . , <argument n>)

The argument list may include mandatory or optional arguments or noarguments at all. If no arguments exist the parentheses may be presentbut empty or the parentheses may not exist at all. An argument can be anindividual object entity or an expression as discussed above withembedded operators, or the argument can itself be a procedure call or anobject having a selection of members to choose from. A commonrequirement of nested procedure calls is that the return value of thelowest level nested call must be returned so that a value exists for theargument that is the procedure call.

However, regardless of the number of arguments or the type of argumentin an argument list for a given procedure call, each argument mustresolve to a value of a specific type that is compatible with theargument definition. Further, each value for each argument must belocated in a specific position in an argument list to avoid errors. Itis the procedure name and the type, order, and mandatory or optionalnature of arguments for the procedure that present numerousopportunities for typographical errors, incorrect syntax, and otherhuman programmer introduced problems.

The difficulty in writing programming language statements is that theprogrammer must remember the statement syntax in addition to thespelling of and selection of the member names that correspond to thenamed object. Even if the same programmer is declaring and laterreferencing an object or member name, it can be easy to forget the exactspellings when there are hundreds of objects and members named in acomplex program. This problem is even more pronounced where oneprogrammer names an object and another programmer is expected toremember the cryptic name definition in an environment where the twoprogrammers may not even know each other and may even be in differentcountries. Thus, in either case if a programmer can not remember eitherthe syntax, spelling, or selection options that are necessary tocomplete a given programming language statement, then the programmermust stop and either look up the information in an on-line help system,printed manual pages; or consult a helpful co-worker who may know theanswer. However, the result of having to stop to look up information isdisruptive and very inefficient.

One solution to the above stated program generating problem is to simplyenter programming language statements as rapidly as possible with littleconcern for precision of syntax, spelling, or selection options. Oncesome number of programming language statements have been entered, theprogram can be compiled to use the compiler as a filter to flag syntax,spelling, and option errors or incompatibilities. The programmer canthen make an error correcting pass through the computer program tocorrect each error flagged by the compiler and repeat the errorfiltering process as many times as is necessary until the program iscomplete. However, this error filtering approach is extremelyinefficient and has the potential to introduce large quantities oferrors that can be difficult to distinguish in an overwhelming cascadeof compiler errors. Further, some errors may escape the compileraltogether, only to be discovered as run time errors or logic errors.

It is also a problem for a computer programmer to maintain a computerprogram, or portion thereof, that was written by another programmer orwas written by the same programmer long enough ago that specific detailsmay have been forgotten. This is a particular problem in large and/orcomplex programs. In either case it is necessary for the maintainingcomputer programmer to become quickly familiar with all aspects of themaintained program. This means that the programmer must look up allstructures, names, argument lists, choices, variables, and declaredconstants that are used in the body of a program which can take hours ordays of searching depending on the complexity of a program andavailability of information. Thus, working through unfamiliar computerprograms can be a difficult and time consuming task.

Existing programming language coding techniques rely on a programmer'sattention-to-detail, ongoing access to reference materials, peer codereviews, and other inefficient methods, none of which lend themselves togenerating and/or maintaining large amounts of complex programminglanguage code with any level of efficiency and accuracy. For thesereasons, there exists a long felt need for a programming tool to assistthe programmer in writing and/or maintaining a computer programaccurately and efficiently. Such a solution has“heretofore not beenknown prior to the disclosure set forth and claimed below.

Solution

The above identified problems are solved and an advancement made in theprogramming tool field by the computer programming language statementbuilding and information tool of the present invention. The presentinvention generates assist windows that contain program relatedinformation for use by a programmer to construct a programming languagestatement and/or to obtain real time information about a programminglanguage statement. Constructing a programming language statement is aprocess referred to as statement building. The assist windows can beautomatically displayed as determined by the tool itself. Alternatively,and/or in combination with the automatic features, a programmer canmanually request that an assist window be displayed on demand. Theautomatic display feature can be enabled and disabled independent of andwithout inhibiting the manually requested assist window display featureof the present invention.

An assist window displays two general categories of informationincluding, but not limited to, selection menu information, andinformational display. One important feature of the statement generatingtool is that assist windows are non-intrusive and can be ignored by theprogrammer by merely continuing to type an immediate programminglanguage statement at a present character position cursor locationwithout interacting with the assist windows. The assist windows continueto appear, disappear, and/or update in a location proximate to but outof the way of the present character position cursor location so long asthe automatic assist window display feature is enabled.

Selection menu information in an assist window includes any finite listof previously declared entities and/or entity types that can validly beincluded at the present character position cursor location in aprogramming language statement. A selection menu includes at least onemenu item. The set of the at least one menu item in a given selectionmenu is defined by the portion of the programming language statementthat immediately precedes the present character position cursorlocation. A menu item being displayed in a selection menu can beaccepted by the programmer in a manner that results in the selected menuitem being automatically inserted into the immediate programminglanguage statement at the present character position cursor locationwithout the programmer having to type any or all of the characters ofthe selected menu item. Thus, a selection menu assist window suppliesinformation about a programming language statement and the ability tobuild all or part of a programming language statement in a manner thatthe programmer can use or ignore individually or in combinationaccording to the programmer's immediate needs.

The content of an informational display assist window can include, butis not limited to, a map of the argument list options for a procedurecall that is identified by the present character position cursorlocation, specific values associated with defined constants in aprogramming language statement, and general programming languagestatement help information. For example, an argument list for aprocedure call can include a highlighted argument that indicates thepresent character position cursor location within the argument list. Theargument list may also include individual font, typeface, or additionalcharacters to distinguish between mandatory and optional argumentswithin an argument list. The informational display assist windowdisplays procedure call arguments in argument list order accompanied byany options that may exist for each argument in the list. An individualargument that requires or will accept a previously defined entry, may beselected from an overlapping selection menu as previously disclosed.Specific argument information can include, but is not limited to, aname, type, selectable value, and/or default value.

The information provided within any of the above identified assistwindows supplies the programmer with just enough information to completethe immediate segment of a programming language statement without havingto enter additional characters to complete of the programming languagestatement, and without having to pause and consult notes or manualpages, or to recall details, to decide what segment of the programminglanguage statement is required next. The result is increased programmerproductivity due to the accuracy and speed in which programming languagestatement can be produced on a first attempt. This advantage is realizedfor a single programmer who is generating all modules or objects of acomputer program alone, and more particularly when multiple programmersare each separately generating a few modules or objects in a very largeand/or complex software system where one programmer has no idea of thespelling or selection of named entities defined by another programmer.

Automated assist windows appear based on a determination of the possiblechoices that exist in view of the programming language statementcharacters and/or identifiers immediately preceding the characterposition cursor. A continuous high-level compilation occurs as eachcharacter in each line of programming language code is entered so thatsymbols, labels, and names can be instantly resolved for the immediateprogramming language statement whether the defined entity being referredto is a local program definition or a global library definition.Alternatively, manually invoked assist windows appear on demand based ona user request. The information displayed in an assist window isdetermined by first parsing the programming language string proximate tothe present character position cursor. From the tokens of the parsedprogramming language string, the system then determines the type ofprogramming language statement that exists, and any information thatmight be displayed about the immediate programming language statement!In the preferred embodiment the parsing is done as a reverse parse,however, any parsing technique can be used.

The statement generating and information tool is operable in anycomputing environment in the range of environments from a personalcomputer to a workstation and mainframe, provided that the computingenvironment supports a programming language compiler either directly orby way of a network connection. In a typical embodiment the computingenvironment is a general purpose personal computer having a windowsbased operating system and programming language compiler running on atypical processor that is operatively attached to a input/output devicesincluding but not limited to a display screen, keyboard, and mouse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generates automatically and/or manually invokedassist windows that contain information applicable to a programminglanguage statement that is proximate to the present location of thecharacter position cursor. The assist window information can be used tocomplete at least one portion of a programming language statement beingconstructed by the programmer. The assist window information can also beused by the programmer to obtain help that is relevant to the immediateportion of the programming language statement by supplying informationrelevant to the present location of the character position cursor in theimmediate programming language statement. Although specific embodimentsare disclosed herein, it is expected that persons skilled in the art canand will design alternative assist window systems that are within thescope of the following claims either literally or under the Doctrine ofEquivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computing environmentin which the present invention can be implemented;

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 illustrate a stepwise progression of selectionmenu assist windows in screen display form;

FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 illustrate a stepwise progression of informationaldisplay assist windows in screen display form;

FIG. 10 illustrates an overview of the assist window operational stepsin flow diagram form;

FIG. 11 illustrates an overview of the automated assist windowoperational steps in flow diagram form;

FIG. 12 illustrates details of a commit key operation in the context ofthe automated assist window operational steps in flow diagram form; and

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate an overview of the manually requestedassist window operational steps in flow diagram form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Exemplary ComputingEnvironment

FIG. 1

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram example of a general purpose computersystem 100 that is suitable for use with the present invention. However,the present invention is operable in any of the several computingenvironments that can include a variety of hardware, operating systems,and program modules that are all commercially available in the industry.Program modules include, but are not limited to, routines, programs,components, data structures, and the like that perform particular tasksand/or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, personsskilled in the art appreciate that the invention can be practiced withother computer system configurations including, but not limited to,hand-held devices, network computers, multiprocessor based systems,microprocessor-based or other general purpose or proprietaryprogrammable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframes, and thelike. The present invention may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through communications networks. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inand/or executed from local and/or remote memory storage devices.

The present invention and any other necessary programmed instructionsand/or commands are executable on processor 102. Processor 102 storesand/or retrieves programmed instructions and/or data from memory devicesthat can include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM) 110and* Read Only Memory (ROM) 108 by way of memory bus 152. Anotheraccessible memory device includes non-volatile memory device 112 by wayof local bus 150. User input to computer system 100 is entered by way ofkeyboard 104 and/or pointing device 106. Human readable output fromcomputer system 100 can be viewed on display 114 or in printed form onlocal printer 115. Alternatively, computer system 100 is accessible byremote users for purposes that can include debugging, input, outputand/or generating human readable displays in printed and/or displayscreen output form, or any other output form, by way of a Local AreaNetwork (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN) 116. Selection Menu AssistWindows— FIGS. 2-6

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate a stepwise progression of display screen snapshotsfor an operator embedded programming language statement that is beingconstructed by a programmer using a typical object oriented programminglanguage. The type of assist window most commonly used to facilitate theconstruction of an operator embedded programming language statement iscalled a selection menu assist window. The examples discussed and/orreferred to in this document are generic object oriented programminglanguage statements. However, the present invention can be implementedwithin the structure of any programming language and no limitation isintended or implied by the object oriented examples herein.

A selection menu assist window itself, as with any type of assistwindow, is the visual user interface component that makes the presentinvention particularly useful to a programmer who is generating,modifying, or reviewing a computer program. A selection menu is adrop-down style window that is a common window user interface feature. Adrop-down window is also known as a pop-up menu or pop-up window, andtypically includes standard window features such as overflow textslide-bars, default selection highlighting, random pointing device menumanipulation and selection control, and keyboard directional arrow keymenu manipulation and enter key selection control.

A selection menu assist window displays a finite list of syntacticallyvalid menu items that are based on previously defined object entities.Each menu item in a given selection menu assist window is also onlyapplicable to the immediate section of the programming languagestatement that is proximate the character position cursor on theprogrammer's display screen. Choosing from the finite list of menu itemssaves the programmer from having to independently recall the list ofvalid possibilities that can be used to complete an immediate section ofa programming language statement. Choosing from the finite list of menuitems also saves the programmer from having to manually enter eachkeystroke of an immediate section of a programming language statementand minimizes the chances that the programmer might inadvertently entera typographical error into a programming language statement.

A menu item from a selection menu assist window is used to build part ofa programming language statement if the menu item has been selected andcommitted. A menu item is said to have been selected if menu item foruse in the immediate programming language statement by way of a windowsbased screen pointing device such as a mouse for example, or bypositioning a present menu item indicator bar such as a highlight barover the desired menu item using keyboard directional keys. Accepting ahighlighted selection, also known as committing, is accomplished byengaging any one of a set of predefined commit keys such as a {Space} or{Enter} key, or the dot“.” character. The set of predefined commit keysincludes any character that functions as a delimiter in a programminglanguage statement and is programming language specific. Commondelimiter type commit keys can include, but are not limited to, {Enter},Space) and any one of the set of {.=,( )+−*ˆ<>:!}. In the context of thepresent invention, a commit key serves no commit function at ail if theselected menu item is not also highlighted. The assist window can beremoved from view on the display screen by pressing the {Escape} key orby moving the character position cursor.

A menu item in a selection menu can also be entered into a programminglanguage statement by anticipation typing a sufficient number ofcharacters to uniquely correspond to only one menu item. When enoughcharacters are entered for an exact match, the corresponding menu itemis automatically used to replace the immediate section of theprogramming language statement when a commit key is entered. Regardlessof the type of entities listed in the selection menu, a selection menuassist window is displayed in a preferred embodiment proximate to thepresent character position cursor location. The contents of a selectionmenu assist window is determined by reverse parsing and/or continuouspartial compiling of the existing program and that portion of theprogramming language statement fragment that precedes the characterposition cursor.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a programming language edit displaywindow 200 as it might appear at time T1 on the display screen of apersonal computer. For purposes of this example, assume that aprogrammer is writing a computer program comprised ofprogramming-language statements 201 that, among other things, define anobject having the name mytext as a standard TextBox type supported bythe programming language. The object of the present discussion is theprogramming language statement 210 that begins with the member namemytext 211. The operational purpose of programming language statement210 is to change the font of the object mytext 211 into underlined text.FIG. 2 illustrates the time when the programmer has typed the charactersmytext 211 in the programming language statement 210 so that thecharacter position cursor 202 is at the character position following thelast character of mytext 211.

FIG. 3 illustrates the programming language edit display window 200 fromFIG. 2 at a new time T2. At time T2 the programmer has typed the memberaccess separator character 212, in the present case the dot “.”character, following the last character of the object name mytext Inresponse to typing the member access separator character 212, thestatement building tool of the present invention determines the set ofmenu items that correspond to the object type mytext and a selectionmenu assist window 220 is displayed proximate the present characterposition cursor 202. The selection menu assist window 220 contains a setof menu items 221-227, any one of which can be validly included in thepresent programming language statement at the immediate location ofcharacter position cursor 202. Each of the set of menu items 221-227 hasa member type, such as a property member type, a method member type, ora constant member type. The member type for a given menu item isidentified by a bitmap that is adjacent to the menu item. For menu item221 for example, there exists a bitmap 230 and a member name 231 ofAlignment. The member type for each of the set of menu items 221-227 inthe FIG. 3 example are all a property type. The member name 231 is thepresent menu item as identified by the present menu item indicator 223.The present menu item indicator 223 notes the present menu item fromamong the set of visible menu items 221-227 by a broken line enclosure.

The programmer can scroll through the set of menu items 221-227 usingeither the standard keyboard directional keys {Up}, {Down}, {Page Up},and {Page Down}, or by using the window scroll buttons 240-241 and/orscroll bars 242. Note that the selection menu assist window 220 is onlylarge enough to display the set of menu items 221-227 and that thepurpose of the scroll feature is because at least one more menu itemmight exist outside the immediate view of the present window and themenu items must be scrolled up or down to see any out-of-view menuitems. Committing one of the set of menu items 221-227 is accomplishedby pressing the {Control-Enter} or {Tab} keyboard keys when the desiredmenu item is highlighted, or by double clicking the desired menu itemusing the selection button on a screen pointing device. In either case,the selected menu item is inserted into the programming languagestatement 210 from the present location of the character position cursor202. Any text between the last delimiter and the character positioncursor is replaced by the menu item.

FIG. 4 illustrates a second set of previously out-of-view menu items410-416 at a time T3 within selection menu window 220. The previouslyout-of-view menu items 410-416 are revealed by either the traditionalscrolling methods as previously disclosed, or by anticipation typing asdisclosed below. Anticipation typing is useful in the situation wherethe programmer knows the name or at least the first character of thedesired menu item and causes the desired menu item to “scroll” into viewby typing at least the first character of the desired menu item.

Starting from FIG. 3, the programmer can view the set of menu items221-227 in selection menu assist window 220. Without moving from thetraditional touch typing hand position, the programmer can enter thecharacter T 420 at the present character position cursor location 202,which results in an automatic search of the complete set of menu items221-227 and 410-416 to locate the first menu item in the alphabetic listthat begins with the character “f1 420 otherwise no scrolling occurs.FIG. 4 illustrates the result of the automatic search.

The highlighted menu item 410 is the first menu item in the complete setof menu items that begins with the character “f” 420. Although there areother menu items 413-416 that begin with the same character, only thefirst in the list is highlighted. The highlighted menu item 410 is theselected menu item that can be committed as previously disclosed bypressing a commit key such as the {Ctrl-Enter} or {Tab} key or any otherdesignated commit key. If the commit key is a delimiter character, thenthe commit key is included as part of the programming language statementin addition to committing the menu item. A non-delimiter commit key isnot included as part of the programming language statement. A selectedmenu item can also be committed by double clicking the select key on amouse while the directional screen pointer is pointing to the desiredmenu item. The set of designated commit keys can vary from programminglanguage to programming language and can include, but is not limited to,any keyboard key or combination of keys. Commit keys can also be specialcharacters. For example, commit keys in a Visual Basic programminglanguage can include the {Enter} and {Space} keys in addition to any oneof the characters in the set of delimiter type commit keys such as {.=,()+−**<>:! and .}. Pressing a delimiter type commit key when a menu itemis not highlighted does not select the menu item. In other words, theinput focus of a selection menu assist window 220 is only active when amenu item is highlighted. For this reason, the programmer can proceed to“type through” the presence of the selection menu assist window 220without taking advantage of or experiencing interference from an assistwindow. A lowlighted menu item is one that is outlined or otherwisedistinguished from ordinary text to indicate a present menu item, butnot a selected or committed menu item. A highlighted menu item is aselected menu item that is significantly distinguished from the hue orintensity of a lowlighted item.

If the highlighted menu item 410 is not the desired menu item, theprogrammer has the choice of either scrolling through the menu itemsnear the highlighted menu item 410, or the programmer can typeadditional characters at the character position cursor 202 until asufficient number of characters exist to force the statement buildingtool to automatically select the desired match. Once a menu item isselected, the selected menu item is inserted into the programminglanguage statement 210, replacing any anticipation typed characters thatexist at the character position cursor 202. The selection menu assistwindow 220 then disappears from the programming language edit window200. Alternatively, the selection menu assist window 220 can be removedfrom the programming language edit window 200 at any time by pressingthe {Escape} keyboard key or by horizontally moving the characterposition cursor.

If the statement building tool does not identify an exact menu itemmatch from the anticipation typed characters input by the programmer,then the resulting narrowed list of menu items assist the programmer inquickly identifying and selecting the desired menu item by way of thescrolling and selection methods previously disclosed. However, the bestalphabetic match can be committed by pressing the {Ctrl-Enter} or {Tab}keyboard keys. For example, if the programmer had typed the charactersfontbl as the anticipation typing characters in programming languagestatement 210 of FIG. 4, the selection menu assist window 220 wouldscroll to and lowlight select menu item 411 FontBold as the present menuitem having the best available alphabetic match. The present menu item411 can then be committed by pressing a non-delimiter commit key such asthe {Tab} keyboard key. A delimiter type commit key can not be usedbecause the present menu item is a lowlight selection and a commit byway of a delimiter character requires a highlight selected menu item.Requiring the highlighted selection requirement facilitates theprogrammer's ability to type-through any assist window.

FIG. 5 continues the present example at a time T4 by assuming that theprogrammer has used the delimiter commit key dot“.” 511 to accept themenu item Font 510 into programming language statement 210. Thus at timeT4, the statement building tool automatically determines by way ofcontinuous partial compiling, that the incomplete programming languagestatement mytextfont is an object of the Font type and that a secondselection menu assist window 530 is required to display a new set ofmenu items 531-537 that correspond to the previously defined Font typeobject. The programmer can select one of the set of menu items 531-537in a manner as previously disclosed in the text accompanying FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates that Underline 610 was committed as part ofprogramming language statement 210 by using the delimiter commit keyequal “=” 611. Once the programming language statement 210 is completedup to the present character position cursor location 202 in FIG. 6, thestatement building tool once again automatically determines bycontinuous partial compiling that the incomplete programming languagestatement mytext.font.underline=resolves to a Boolean data type and thata third selection menu assist window 640 is required to display the listof valid menu items 641-642 for this data type. In the present case theonly Boolean choices that can be used to complete the programminglanguage statement 210 are either true 641 or false 642. The desiredmenu item 641 or 642 can be committed as part of programming languagestatement 210 in the manner previously disclosed in the textaccompanying FIGS. 4-5.

Without using the statement building tool to help generate a completeprogramming language statement such as mytext.Font.UnderlineˆTrue, themost efficient programmer can only complete the statement by accuratelytyping at least about 26 keystrokes while remembering the selection,order, and syntax of the available property types. However, using thestatement building tool to help generate a complete programming languagestatement such as mytext.Font.Undertine=True, a programmer need onlytype at or about 12 keystrokes and remember or otherwise look up almostnone of the selection, order, and/or syntax of the available propertytypes needed to complete the programming language statement. Not onlyare fewer keystrokes required, the programmer can selectively usewhichever of the unobtrusive assist windows containing real timereminders relevant to each keystroke to quickly further the immediateprogramming language statement toward error free completion.

The statement building tool can be customized by the programmer toinclude any type and/or scope of program information that would beuseful to the programmer. Typically, it is most desirable to limit thetype and/or scope of program information that the statement buildingtool includes in any one assist window so that the programmer is notoverwhelmed with information. For example, the types of programinformation that can be included in any one assist window include, butare not limited to, global variables, global functions, and globalconstants that may each be used from any procedure or module in amulti-module program. In addition, there are variables, functions,and/or constants that are only available or local to a given programprocedure or module. Depending on the scope of the program beingcompleted by the programmer, the programmer might want to limit theavailable assist window information to certain combinations of global,local, and/or sub-local variables, functions, and/or defined constants.Additional-assist window information might include, but not be limitedto, local or global structure or label names, conditional compilationconstants within #IF and #Elself structures, lists of classes withimplementable interfaces, event names, the subset of all types havingevent interfaces, the subset of all types themselves, and/or the namesand/or types that are used to qualify a type. Informational DisplayAssist Windows—FIGS. 7-9

FIGS. 7-9 illustrate an exemplary progression of an informationaldisplay assist window as it would appear during construction of aprocedure call argument list. Other miscellaneous types of programinformation can be displayed by informational display assist windows asis disclosed in the text accompanying FIGS. Xxx.

FIG. 7 illustrates an edit display screen 700 that contains numerousprogramming language statements 710, 720, and 730 at a time T1. Theprogramming language statements 710 declare an enumerated Enum type ofproperty or method MyColor having three members including blue, green,and red. Programming language statement 720 declares a procedure of typeMyProc having three arguments 721-723 that comprise an argument list.The first argument 721 is a mandatory argument String, the secondargument 722 is a mandatory argument MyColor, and the third argument 723is an optional argument Integer as noted by the square bracketenclosure. The optional argument Integer includes a default value of 2.

The programming language statements 730 are the body of a procedurecalled MainProc that begins at programming language statement 731. Inresponse to the programmer typing MyProc as the first characters ofprogramming language statement 732 the statement building toolautomatically identifies MyProc as a previously declared procedure call.In response to identifying the procedure being called, the statementbuilding tool generates an informational display assist window 740containing the corresponding argument list for the called, procedure. Inaddition, the statement building tool of the present inventionhighlights the argument that corresponds to the present position of thecharacter position cursor 732 within the argument list.

In the FIG. 7 example, the first argument 741 in informational displayassist window 740 is highlighted so that the programmer is automaticallyreminded of the type, order, and details of the argument within theargument list. Displaying the entire argument list, the present argumentin highlighted form, and the details of each argument all within asingle assist window is key to assisting the programmer toward quicklyand accurately completing a procedure call type programming languagestatement. Displaying the argument list and highlighting the presentargument eliminates the need for the programmer to look up or rememberthe order, type, syntax, or substantive details of any argument. Inalternative embodiments an optional argument can be noted by adistinguishing color or font type or any other distinguishing indiciaother than square bracket enclosures.

FIG. 8 illustrates procedure call 732 at time T2 with a first argumentvalue Smith 810 already in place. Note that in the present example thefirst argument 741 is a string type and because no previously declaredvalues exist for this argument, the programmer must have manually typedthe desired character string Smith. Pressing the Comma “,” 811 commitkey following the value Smith causes an update in the informationaldisplay assist window 740 so that the second argument 742 is highlightedto indicate the present location of the character position cursor 732within the argument list. Because the second argument 742 is a definedtype comprised of three color members, a selection menu assist window850 is generated and overlaid on the informational display assist window740. The selection menu assist window 850 contains three menu items851-853 that the programmer can choose from to complete programminglanguage statement 740 in a manner as previously disclosed in the textaccompanying FIGS. 2-6. The selection menu assist window 840 is designedto disappear once a menu item is committed or the Escape key is pressed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a time T3 where the second argument value blue 910has been committed by using the Comma “,” 911 commit key. The result ofcommitting a value for the second argument 742 is that the assist window740 is updated so indicate that the third argument 743 corresponds tothe present location of the character position cursor within theargument list being constructed in the procedure call 732. The thirdargument 743 is optional as indicated by the square brackets in thepresent example. A value for an optional argument can be committed orignored as determined by the programmer. In the present example, becausethe third argument 743 has a default value “2”, ignoring or failing toprovide a value will result in the default value of “2” being used.However, if an alternative value is manually entered as in the presentexample where the value “5” is entered as the argument value 912, thenthe manually entered value is used in the procedure call 732. Whenvalues for each argument in procedure call 732 are present at a time T4,the informational display assist window 740 disappears.

Note that not only can a selection menu assist window overlay aninformational display assist window as illustrated in FIG. 8, a secondinformational display assist window can overlay a first informationaldisplay assist window if one of the arguments in the first procedurecall is itself a procedure call. As a value or menu item is committed orotherwise entered for each level of nested calls, the last active assistwindow is replaced with the next . level of assist window. The number ofnesting levels and/or combinations of assist windows are limited only bythe programming language itself.

Another general use of an informational display assist window is when aprogrammer returns to a previously completed programming languagestatement and places the character position cursor somewhere within theprogramming language statement. By manually requesting information aboutthe object entity on which the character position cursor rests, thestatement building tool will display any information that is relevant tothat point in the programming language statement. For example, if it isdesirable for a programmer to review the value of a defined constantthat is being used in a given programming language statement, then allthe programmer must do is place the character position cursor within thecharacters of the defined constant and the constant's defined name andvalue are be displayed in an informational display assist window. Thestatement building tool can determine the value of the defined constantby partial compilation. The statement building tool can determine thatthe object is a defined constant by reverse parsing the programminglanguage statement.

Another use of an informational display assist window is to manuallyrequest a display of the menu items for an object entity within aprogramming language statement. A new menu item can be committed ifdesired to modify the programming language statement.

Operational Steps—FIGS. 10-13

FIGS. 10-13 illustrate the operational steps in flow diagram form forthe statement generating and statement information tool. Specifically,FIG. 10 illustrates the statement generating tool overview in flowdiagram form. FIG. 11 illustrates details of the automatic statementgenerating operational steps in flow diagram form. FIG. 12 illustratesdetails of commit key operational steps in flow diagram form. FIG. 13illustrates details of manually requested assist window displays in flowdiagram form.

The FIG. 10 overview starts at step 1008 and proceeds to step 1010 wherethe statement building tool initializes a programming language editingtool for use by the programmer. The programming language editing tool isa windows based application that has a multitude of user customizableoperational options that each have a default setting if not modified bythe user. The threshold option is whether the statement building tool'sautomatic operation feature is enabled or disabled. The operationaloptions can include, but are not limited to, running the statementbuilding tool with the automatic mode enabled or disabled, and definingcustom hot-key combinations for manual statement building tool requests.

The automatic and manual features of the statement generating tool areaccessed from branch point 1015 way of branches 1020 or 1030respectively. Both the automatic and manual features can be activatedand/or inactivated at any time by entering available hot-key or menuselection commands. Further, the automatic and manual features are notmutually exclusive and can therefore be used independently from eachother or simultaneously with each other.

On the automatic feature branch 1020, if it is determined at decisionstep 1021 that the automatic statement building features are inactive,then no automatic statement building activities will occur andprocessing continues at step 1028. Alternatively, if it is determined atdecision step 1021 that automatic statement building features areactivated, then the automatic features begin their continuous statementbuilding processes at step 1023. Details of the automatic statementbuilding operational steps are disclosed in the text accompanying FIG.11.

If at decision step 1026 it is determined that it is desirable toinactivate the automatic features of the statement generating tool thenthe automatic features of the statement generating tool quit operatingat step 1028. Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1026that the automatic features of the statement generating tool willcontinue operating, then the automatic statement building tool remainsactive and processing continues at step 1023.

On the manual feature branch 1030, if it is determined at decision step1031 that no manual statement building features are requested by theuser, then processing continues at step 1038 without any action taken.Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1031 that manualstatement building features are requested, then the requested manualfeature is activated at step 1033. Details of the manual statementbuilding operational steps are disclosed in the text accompanying FIG.13.

If at decision step 1036 it is determined that no additional manualstatement building requests exist, then the manual features of thestatement generating tool quit operating at step 1038. Alternatively, ifit is determined at decision step 1036 that additional manual statementgenerating tool requests exist, then manual statement building toolrequest processing continues at step 1033.

FIG. 11 illustrates the details of the automatic statement buildingoperational steps from step 1023 of FIG. 10. Processing begins at step1108 and proceeds to step 1110 where the automatic statement generatingtool features are initialized and the tool begins a continuoussymbol-level compilation of programming language statements that alreadyexist and/or are being entered in real time. A symbol-level compilationis a high level compilation that resolves symbols, labels, aliases, andthe like, but does not compile the programming language statements tothe extent of generating machine executable object code. The purpose ofa continuous-symbol-level compilation is to facilitate the real timeavailability of a set of object entities and/or other program relatedinformation that is based on previously defined programming languagestatements, global symbols, accessible libraries, and/or other linkedmodules.

At step 1118, the statement generating tool waits for and reads the nextcharacter or command that is input by the user. A character includes anyalphabetic, numeric, or special character that is part of a programminglanguage statement. A command may be a character that is entered in aspecific contextual situation, an administrative or window manipulationcommand, or a substantive feature command. Processing the input commandsand/or character input comprise the remainder of the FIG. 11 operationalsteps.

If it is determined at decision step 1125 that a substantive statementgenerating tool feature command has been entered, then processingcontinuesˆ at step 1132. A substantive statement generating tool featurecommand is a programmer initiated request for a statement generatingtool feature that can include, but is not limited to, a manuallyrequested or on-demand assist window for a randomly selected programminglanguage statement. Manual requests for statement generating toolfeatures can be entered by way of a hot-key or command menu input.Hot-key commands can include any character or keystroke combination suchas for example, {Ctrt-J}, {Ctrt-Shift-J}, {Ctrl-l}, {Ctrl-Shift-l}, and{Ctrl-Space}. The operational de manual statement generating toolfeature requests are disclosed in the text accompanying FIG. 13. Oncestep 1132 processing is complete, processing continues at step 1118 aspreviously disclosed. Alternatively, if it is determined at decisionstep 1125 that the input received in step 1118 is not a substantivestatement generating tool command, then processing continues at step1141.

If it is determined at decision step 1141 that the input received instep 1118 is an administrative or window manipulation command, thenprocessing continues to step 1145 where the command is interpreted andexecuted. At step 1149 the subject assist window and/or programminglanguage editor window is refreshed as needed in response to executingthe command, and processing continues at step 1118 as previouslydisclosed. Examples of administrative or window manipulation commandscan include, but are not limited to, window navigation keys such as{Up}, {Down}, {PageUp}, {PageDown}, {Ctrl-PageUp}, {Ctrl-PageDown}, and{Escape}. Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1141 thatthe input received at step 118 is not an administrative or windowmanipulation command, then processing continues to step 1155.

If it is determined at decision step 1155* that the input received instep 1118 is a commit key, then processing continues to step 1158 wherethe commit key is appropriately processed. After step 1158, processingcontinues at step 1175. Operational details of processing commit keysand the commit scenarios, are disclosed in the text accompanying FIG.12. Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1155 that theinput received in step 1118 is not a commit key, then processingcontinues at step 1160.

If it is determined at decision step 1160 that the input received instep 1118 is a non-character text editing command, then processingcontinues to step 1175. A non-character text editing command caninclude, but is not limited to, {Cut}, {Copy}, {Paste}, {Undo}, {Redo},{Delete}, and {Backspace}, for example. Alternatively, if it isdetermined at decision step 1160 that the input received in step 1118 isany other substantive input character, then processing continues at step1172. At step 1172 the substantive input character is passed to theprogramming language editor where the character is added to the presentprogramming language statement at the present character position cursorlocation.

If it is determined at decision step 1175 that a presently displayedassist window requires modification in view of the character mostrecently input at step 1118 or that a new assist window is required inview of the character most recently input at step 1118, then processingcontinues at step 1185 where the appropriate assist window modificationand/or assist window generating is executed in a manner as disclosed intext accompanying FIG. 13. Examples of assist window updates caninclude, but are not limited to, removing an assist window, or scrollinga menu item list in a menu selection assist window in view of a newcharacter that further alphabetically identifies an object entity beingtyped by the programmer. Examples of the need for a new assist windowcan include, but are not limited to, where no assist window was possiblebased on input information preceding the present input character, orwhere a replaced assist window is now appropriate. Note that certain ofthe substantive input characters that are processed at decision step1175 will force an automatic attempt by the statement building tool tomodify or generate an assist window in the same manner as if theprogrammer had manually requested a statement generating tool feature byway of a command as-identified in decision step 1125.

Thus whether responding to a manual or automatic command input, thestatement generating tool executes substantially the same internal stepstoward the end of modifying or generating an appropriate assist window.The set of automatic trigger characters that can force the automaticupdating or generating of an assist window are typically programminglanguage dependent and can be similar to or a subset of the set ofcommit keys previously discussed. The set of automatic triggercharacters can include, but are not limited to the set of {Space,=.()+-*/<>}. Alternatively, if no modifications or new assist windows arerequired, then processing continues at step 1188.

If it is determined at decision step 1188 that automatic statementgenerating tool processing should continue, then processing continues atstep 1118 where the system waits for another input character.Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1188 that no furtherautomatic statement generating tool processing should continue, thenprocessing continues at step 1190.

FIG. 12 illustrates the operational steps 1200 for committing an itemfrom an assist window. The operational steps 1200 begin at step 1205 andare the details of step 1158 from FIG. 11. At step 1208 the selectedmenu item is committed. Committing a menu item results in replacing theword segment proximate the character position cursor with the selectedmenu item from the assist window and the assist window is removed. If itis determined at decision step 1210 that the input character from step1118 of FIG. 11 is a non-delimiter type commit key for a present assistwindow item that was not a selected item, then processing continues atstep 1220. Examples of a non-delimiter type commit key can include, butare not limited to, {Tab}, and {Ctrl-Enter}. An example of a presentassist window item that is not also a selected item, is a lowlighted orbroken-outline menu item in a menu selection assist window that is nothighlighted. A highlighted menu item indicates that the menu item is notonly the present menu item but also the selected menu item. At step1220, the commit key that precipitated the immediate commit operation isdiscarded because it is not the type of character that is added to theprogramming language statement itself. Processing then continues at step1250.

Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1210 that the inputcharacter from step 1118 of FIG. 11 is a delimiter type commit key, thenprocessing continues at step 1240. Examples of a delimiter type commitkey can be programming language dependent and include, not be limitedto, {{Space} {Enter},( )+-*/=<>!A.}. An example of a present assistwindow item that is also a selected item, is a highlighted menu item ina menu selection assist window. A highlighted menu item indicates thatthe menu item is not only the present menu item but also the selectedmenu item. At step 1240, the commit key itself is inserted into theprogramming language statement immediately following the previouslyinserted assist window item of step 1208.

If it is determined at decision step 1250 that new information existsthat is relevant to the next segment of the programming languagestatement, then processing continues at step 1258 where the newinformation is displayed in an update to a presently displayed assistwindow or in a newly generated assist window. Alternatively, if it isdetermined at decision step 1250 that no new information exists that isrelevant to the next segment of the programming language statement, thenprocessing continues at step 1254 where the presently displayed assistwindow is removed. In either case, processing continues at step 1260 byreturning to step 1132 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 illustrates the operational steps 1300 for processing a manualassist window request. The operational steps 1300 begin at step 1308 andare the details of step 1033 from FIG. 10 and step 1132 of FIG. 11. Theassist window processing disclosed in text and FIG. 13 is substantiallysimilar for the automatic assist window processing as for the manuallyrequested assist windpw processing. At step 1311, the type of processingrequired to satisfy the automated needs or the request made by theprogrammer identified by the hotkey combination used or other menucommand selection. The type of processing required is directed to theappropriate processing steps at branch point 1320 by way of branches1330,1340, 1350, and 1360.

The operational steps on branch 1330 process informational menu assistwindow requests. In particular, branch 1330 processes the type ofrequest that generates information relevant to a specific argument in aprocedure call argument list. At step 1331 the programming languagestatement identified by the present location of the character positioncursor is parsed into tokens. Any parsing technique can be used toidentify the tokens in the programming language statement, however, in apreferred embodiment a reverse parsing technique is preferred.Specifically, the end of the word at the present character positioncursor location is identified and referred to as the extended insertionpoint. The beginning of the programming language statement is identifiedat the opposite end of the programming language statement from theextended insertion point. All characters beyond the extended insertionpoint are ignored. Each segment of the programming language statementand each delimiter therebetween, are parsed into tokens. In thepreferred embodiment, the order of the resulting token list is thenreversed for further processing.

The token representing the procedure identifier for the programminglanguage statement is located at step 1334 by examining each token inthe token list. If it is determined at decision step 1335 that theprocedure identification token is not a symbol that can be resolved,then processing continues at step 1370. Alternatively, if it isdetermined at decision step 1335 that the procedure identification tokenis a symbol that can be resolved, then processing continues at step1336.

At step 1336, the present argument token that is identified by thepresent character position cursor is located. If it is determined atdecision step 1337 that the present argument token is a symbol or otherobject entity that can be resolved, the processing continues at step1338. At step 1338, context of the present argument token is determinedby invoking the compiler to bind against the set of known symbols and/orobject entities, and an assist window is generated to display theinformation relevant to the present argument token. The assist windowmay be a selection menu assist window or informational menu assistwindow as appropriate. Processing then continues at step 1370.Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1337 that thepresent argument token is not a symbol or other object entity that canbe resolved, then processing continues at step 1370 because a defaultinformational menu assist window that contains the procedure callargument list is all that can be displayed.

The operational steps on branch 1340 illustrate the steps for processinga manually requested procedure call argument list. The steps aresubstantially similar to the steps of branch 1330. However, the primarypurpose of the branch 1340 steps is to generate a complete argument listregardless of the present location of the character position cursorwithin the programming language statement. Specifically, at step 1341the programming language statement identified by the present location ofthe character position cursor is parsed into tokens. Central to theparsing of step 1341 is that not all procedure calls convenientlyinclude parenthesis around the argument list as in call procedure-name(arg1, arg2). A procedure call can also take the form of procedure-namearg1, arg2. For this reason, each token must be parsed and individuallyevaluated to accurately identify the procedure and its argument list.

The token representing the procedure identifier for the programminglanguage statement is located at step 1344 by examining each token inthe token list. If it is determined at decision step 1345 that theprocedure identification token is not a symbol that can be resolved,then processing continues at step 1370. Alternatively, if it isdetermined at decision step 1345 that the procedure identification tokenis a symbol that can be resolved, then processing continues at step1346.

At step 1346, the present argument token that is identified by thepresent character position cursor is located. The information obtainedin steps 1341-1346 provide the procedure call name, the argument list,and the present argument that is highlighted to correspond with thepresent location of the character position cursor within the programminglanguage statement. At step 1347, the compiler is invoked to bindagainst the set of known symbols and/or object entities for the argumentlist and an assist window is generated to display the informationrelevant to the procedure call and the present argument. Processing thencontinues at step 1370.

The operational steps on branch 1350 illustrate the steps for processinga manual request for an assist window that contains assignmentinformation. Assignment symbol information includes, but is not limitedto, symbols or constant lists that can validly follow the assignmentsymbol itself or any other arithmetic operator for example. At step 1351the nearest operator is located that immediately precedes the presentlocation of the character position cursor.

At step 1353, the object and member name token combination is identifiedthat immediately precede the operator identified in step 1351. If it isdetermined at decision step 1354 that the token combination is not asymbol that can be resolved, then processing continues at step 1370.Alternatively, if it is determined at decision step 1354 that the tokencombination is a symbol that can be resolved, then processing continuesat step 1355. The type of object and the return type of each member inthe series is determined at step 1355.

If it is determined at decision step 1356 that the data type of the lastproperty or method is an enumerated type, then the list of members ofthis enumerated type is generated and displayed in an assist window atstep 1357. Processing continues at step 1370. Alternatively, if it isdetermined at decision step 1356 that the data type of the last propertyor method is not an enumerated type or other type that can be resolvedbased on presently available information, then processing continues tostep 1358. At step 1358, a menu of possible choices is generated anddisplayed in a selection menu assist window. Processing then continuesat step 1370.

The operational steps of branch 1360 illustrate the process ofgenerating a member list resulting from a manual request. At step 1361,the programming language statement is parsed as previously disclosed. Atstep 1362, the compiler is invoked to bind the entire expressionexcluding the last identifier of the expression. At step 1365, a memberlist is assembled in view of the context of the remaining expressionthat includes the list of member functions and variables of the returnedsymbol. The generated list is displayed in a selection menu assistwindow. Note that the last identifier in the expression which wasignored for binding purposes, is identified in the assist window as theinitial selection of the displayed member list. Processing thencontinues at step 1370.

Global lists and other miscellaneous lists are generated in a mannersimilar to the above argument lists, constant lists, and/or member listsas appropriate and in view of the symbol information that is availableto the compiler at the time the request is made. For example, areference to the symbol VBA in normal programming language code showsall callable procedures and all constants defined in the VBA library.However, the reference as VBA shows all types of defined in the VBAlibrary. The resolved symbol appears similar, but a different categoryof information is pulled from the symbol lists maintained by thecompiler to satisfy both requests.

1. A computer readable medium containing computer executableinstructions to perform a method for assisting a computer programmer inreal time to complete a programming language statement in a computerprogram, said method comprising: enabling a programming language editorhaving a character position cursor and a randomly positionable pointer;partially compiling available ones of a plurality of programminglanguage statements in said computer program; defining a finite set ofprogramming language statement information that is relevant to at leastone segment of a present programming language statement from among saidplurality of programming language statements that is proximate to saidcharacter position cursor; and generating a passive assist window thatcontains said finite set of programming language statement informationin a location proximate to said character position cursor.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1 including: automatically attempting said steps ofclaim 1 for each character received by said programming language editor.3. A method according to claim 2 including: attempting said steps ofclaim 1 on a randomly selected one of said plurality of programminglanguage statements in response to a real time request by said computerprogrammer.
 4. A method according to claim 1 including: attempting saidsteps of claim 1 on a randomly selected one of said plurality ofprogramming language statements in response to a real time request bysaid computer programmer at a time when at least one automatic assistwindow feature is disabled.
 5. A method according claim 1 including:generating a simultaneous plurality of passive assist windows that eachcontain a finite set of programming language statement information in alocation proximate to said character position cursor, said simultaneousplurality of passive assist windows being selected from at least one ofa group comprised of: a selection menu assist window and aninformational display assist window.
 6. A method according to claim 1wherein said step of defining includes: generating said finite list as aselectable list of menu items that can each validly complete said atleast one segment of said present programming language statement that isproximate to said character positioned cursor.
 7. A method according toclaim 1 wherein said step of generating includes: creating a selectionmenu assist window comprised of said list of menu items; and enablingwindow control features for said selection menu assist window.
 8. Amethod according to claim 6 including: replacing said at least onesegment of said present programming language statement with one saidlist of menu items in response to an input command by said computerprogrammer.
 9. A method according to claim 1 wherein said step ofdefining includes: generating an argument list of each argument in saidpresent programming language statement; and identifying an argument typefor each argument in said argument list selected from at least one of agroup comprised of: a mandatory argument and an optional argument.
 10. Amethod according to claim 9 wherein said step of generating includes:reverse parsing said present programming language statement into aplurality of tokens that each represent an individual component selectedfrom at least one of a group comprised of: an object entity segment anda delimiter, in response to a real time request by said computerprogrammer distinguishing said plurality of tokens between a procedurecall token and any argument token in said argument list; and bindingsaid argument list.
 11. A method according to claim 1 wherein said stepof generating includes: generating an informational display assistwindow based on an argument list; distinguishing a mandatory argumentfrom an optional argument within said argument list; and highlighting apresent argument within said argument list that corresponds to a presentlocation of said character position cursor within said presentprogramming language statement.
 12. A system for passively assisting auser in real time to complete a programming language statement, saidsystem comprising: a programming language editor having a characterposition cursor and a randomly positioned pointer; means for partiallycompiling available ones of a plurality of programming languagestatements in said computer program; and means for generating an assistwindow that contains a finite set of programming language statementinformation in a location proximate to said character position cursor,said assist window being selected from at least one of a group comprisedof: a selection menu assist window and an informational display assistwindow.
 13. A system according to claim 12 wherein said means forgenerating includes: means for identifying a desired menu item from saidselection menu assist window; and means for replacing a segment of apresent programming language statement at a present location of saidcharacter positioned cursor with said desired menu item in response tosaid means for identifying.
 14. A system according to claim 12including: means for displaying information in an informational displayassist window, said information being related to at least one segment ofa present programming language statement that is proximate a presentlocation of said character position cursor and selected from at leastone of a group comprised of: a symbol definition, a defined constant, aprocedure call map, and an enumerated list.
 15. A system according toclaim 12 including: means for automatically enabling said means of claim12 for each character received by said programming language editor. 16.A system according to claim 12 including: means for enabling said meansof claim 1 on a randomly selected one of said plurality of programminglanguage statements in response to a real time request by said user andindependent of any automatic assist feature.
 17. A real time method forassisting a user to complete a programming language statement in acomputer program, said real time method comprising: enabling aprogramming language editor having a character position cursor;continuously resolving symbolic portions of available ones of aplurality of programming language statements into a partial programcompilation; identifying a present programming language statement and atleast one segment of said present programming language statement basedon a location of said character position cursor determining a finite setof information related to said present programming language statementand said at least one segment of said present programming languagestatement based on said partial program compilation; and generating anassist window of said finite set of information.
 18. A method accordingto claim 17 wherein said step of identifying includes: determining anidentity of input to said programming language editor by said user;enabling a reverse parse evaluation of said present programming languagestatement into identifiable tokens for each of said at least one segmenttherein in response to said input being an on-demand request by saiduser; enabling execution of a editing task in response to said inputbeing a programming language editor command; enabling a first type ofcommit of an identified menu item from a selection menu assist window inresponse to said input being a commit key, wherein said step of enablinga first type of commit includes; identifying said commit key as anon-delimiter type commit key; and discarding said commit key; enablinga second type of commit of an identified menu item from a selection menuassist window in response to said input being a commit key, wherein saidsecond type of commit includes: identifying said commit key as adelimiter type commit key; and inserting said commit key after saididentified menu item in said present programming language statement; andadding to said present programming language statement at a location ofsaid character position cursor in response to said input being anon-commit key type input character.
 19. A method according to claim 17wherein said step of generating includes: displaying a selection menuassist window where said present programming language statement isidentified as an operator embedded programming language statement; anddisplaying in informational display assist window where said presentprogramming language statement is identified as a non-operator embeddedprogramming language statement.
 20. A method according to claim 19wherein said non-operator embedded programming language is procedurecall.